Fascinating Delhi. Review on New Delhi

Monica McLean has asked for an inside scoop in New Delhi. Well, Delhi should abound in those; scoops and more scoops. I do not know of any scoop though I am sure there would be many. One could be the budget leak, other could be political scandals and still a third one of socialite gossip. I am going to write about Delhi as I have known it in the years I lived there, all of 19 years, and during the numerous visits I made and continue to make to Delhi. The important Historical Places of Delhi are given in the Official Description. I may add that these are all worth visiting. Some more sites worth a visit have been added. But I would like to mention just one place worth visiting. It is the Lotus temple or Bhai's place of worship. Incidentally Bhai’s is a secular faith started by Bah Ullah of Iran. The headquarters are in Willmet,Illinois, USA. Willmet temple is also a beautiful building, I saw this way back in 1985. There are similar temples at several places in other parts of the world. The temple in Delhi is a very big one and from a distance itself one starts admiring it. This marvellous structure inspires both from outside as well as inside. The hall is so spacious that it can seat thousands.It is made entirely of white marble, perhaps Italian. It has the shape of a lotus flower with petals and base all crafted beautifully. It seems the pieces were computer designed and cut in Japan and brought to Delhi and assembled there and put in place. New Delhi now has many shopping Plazas which are delight to go to and shop at.

Delhi of OLD

I have close relationship with Delhi. I spent the most formative years of my life there. I was brought up and educated in Delhi. I used to walk to school everyday. In those days we did not have the 10+2 system of schooling in Delhi then. Schooling included four years of primary, four years of middle and three years of secondary or higher secondary education before going to college. Only the 11th standard or Higher Secondary, as it was called, final examination was the Board Examination and was conducted by the Delhi Higher Secondary Board. The result of this examination was crucial as further admission and college education depended on it. Graduate courses were of three year duration after the successful completion of which Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or bachelor of science (B.Sc.) degree was awarded. I did my graduation in Delhi. Thus, I lived in Delhi till the age of nineteen in the years 1940s and 50s and then moved on to Bombay having been selected in a Central Government Premier Establishment for Science. But since my parents lived in Delhi, my visits to Delhi were frequent and were of considerable duration. My sisters still live in Delhi and nearby areas adjoining Delhi. So my trips to Delhi have continued, but the frequency and stay periods have reduced.

Population

Delhi was not such a crowded place before the partition of the country. As an aftermath of partition refugees, who had to flee their homes now in Pakistan, settled on the pavements of Delhi almost all over? They constructed little shacks to start their lives again. The scenes of partition and its effect on Delhi are vivid in my memory but I am not writing about those. The refugees lived in these shacks for some years to come. Slowly they started doing something or the other to build their lives from scratch. The population of Delhi started to bludgeon and has continued to do ever since. Nothing was a problem in those good old days; schools, markets, transport all were simple. Horse drawn ‘tongas’ or carriages were common. Then motorcycle driven four-seater open taxis became popular. Cycle rickshaw came later. Bicycles were very handy and commonly used. There were few personal cars or two-wheelers. Buses were not very rare and did serve the needs. Today Delhi is giving way at the seams in spite of spreading, hugely across the Yamuna river. Many bridges have been constructed over the river for ease of commuting. Talking of commuting, Delhi boasts of many a fly over, before Mumbai embarked on that journey and very shabbily too. New Delhi still remains a relatively clean and attractive city. Connought Place, not Rajiv Gandhi for me, is a spectacular shopping and strolling area at all times and is not duplicated anywhere. Rest of New Delhi also remains by and large open and not so crowded. But it has expanded without boundaries! There are “Jhuggies’ at all possible places and supply the domestic work force and other labour to Delhi. Besides the ever moving population from the villages, Bangladeshis constitute a considerable chunk of migrants.

Amenities

The burgeoning population is having its toll on the services, whether transport, housing, education, services and even civility. There is perennial power shortage, contributed considerably by thefts self and in collusion with the staff, The electricity Board remains bankrupt. In the height of summer there are no fans and in winter no heaters. Similarly in summer water shortage is also perennial. But the prices of commodities remain mostly in control. There are so many vehicles on the road that Delhi has the highest pollution of all cities in India. The number of vehicles in Delhi, it was reported, exceeds that of the four major metros combined. Delhi being the seat of Governance, corruption in high places is also high. It is my belief that this corruption travels down in all directions in the country and at every state capital a further amount is added. There is all kind of lobbying which is a fact of life all over the world and is not unique to Delhi. Cheating by autorikshaw and taxi drivers is rampant and nobody can or does anything about it. I am a Bombayite and it is very disturbing for me. Still Delhi has some charm of its own and let us wish it well.